- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic still faces 10 more charges
- Cleared of charge relating to Serb atrocities early in the 1992-95 war
- 100,000 died, including 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica’
- Accused of sniping and shelling campaign in 44-month Sarajevo siege
By
Leon Watson
07:37 EST, 28 June 2012
|
10:35 EST, 28 June 2012
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has been acquitted of one of the two genocide charges he faces at the halfway stage of his long-running showpiece trial.
Judges say prosecutors did not present enough evidence to support the genocide count covering mass killings, expulsions and persecution by Serb forces of Muslims and Croats from Bosnian towns early in the country’s 1992-95 war.
However judges refused to dismiss 10 more charges, including a genocide count covering Karadzic’s alleged involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men. His trial will continue.
Scroll down for video
Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic (right) has been acquitted of one of the two genocide charges he facess. He is pictured with his general Ratko Mladic (left) in 1995 on Mountain Vlasic
The U.N. court’s rules allow suspects
to seek acquittal after prosecutors wrap up their case. Earlier this
month Karadzic asked judges to dismiss all 11 counts against him, saying
prosecutors had failed to prove them.
Last month the showpiece trial was
dramatically halted in The Hague after an extraordinary and embarrassing
blunder by prosecutors.
Presiding
judge Alphons Orie suspended the hearing of the former Bosnian Serb
General indefinitely after prosecutors failed to disclose thousands of
documents to the defence team.
Incredibly, prosecutors had over 16 years while the 70 year-old was on the run to prepare for the case.
Karadzic pictured in the court room of the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague at the start of his trial in 2008
Bosnian Serb wartime president Radovan Karadzic (right), posed as a doctor of alternative medicine called Dr Dragan David Dabic while he was in hiding
International War Crimes Tribunal investigators clearing away soil and debris from dozens of Srebrenica victims buried in a mass grave
But on May 16 they acknowledged their mistakes which Judge Orie described as ‘significant disclosure errors.’
The announcement was seen as a major
setback for the court in one of its highest profile cases, its final
trial to focus on atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war,
which left over 100,000 dead.
The
proceedings were being broadcast live in Bosnia where Bosnian Serbs,
who consider Mladic a hero, mocked the court greeting the decision with a
mixture of laughter and applause.
But
for the families of Srebrenica’s victims and other Bosnia atrocities it
was a ‘heartbreaking’ blow and yet another delay in their quest to see
the man they blame of the deaths of tens of thousands brought to
justice.
Mladic is said to have suffered two
strokes and heart problems while on the run and the fear of many Bosnian
Muslims is that they will be robbed of justice again.
And like ex-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic he will die in custody before a judgement is reached.
Judge
Orie said the court will analyse the ‘scope and full impact’ of the
error and aim to establish a new starting date ‘as soon as possible.’
Mladic
is accused of commanding Bosnian Serb troops who waged a campaign of
murder and persecution to drive Muslims and Croats out of territory they
considered part of Serbia and oversaw the 44-month siege of Sarajevo,
the Bosnian capital, that killed 10,000.
-
‘I’m so sorry, please forgive me… but man, I did try’: Ann…
-
No wonder so many people like it! Coke and Pepsi contain…
-
Matt Lauer’s wife ‘will divorce him if Ann Curry’s…
-
‘I love abusing this kid’: Mother ‘videoed assault and…
-
‘I didn’t even mean to hurt them’: Video shows boy, 14,…
-
Australian swimmer lands in hot water after tweeting picture…
-
Dad ‘left toddler son in sweltering car outside his office…
-
Razed to the ground: Shocking before-and-after images reveal…
-
Dog-faced boy, four-legged Myrtle and the man with elastic…
-
Researchers find icy tomb on glacier of aircraft that…
-
Woman, 32, ‘had sex with an under-16 boy in park bathroom’
-
Think this haunted house is scary? Wait ’til you see your…